Planning Events, a step-by-step guide - Part 2: Budgets

In the first installment of our “Planning Events, a Step-by-Step Guide” we addressed some key questions to ask at the start of the planning process, as well as how to develop an event committee. Click here to read the post.  In this week’s post we are addressing how to develop an event budget. Before starting the budgeting process we ask yourself some key questions. The answers will help guide the development of a robust event budget. Click here to read the full post.

Money, money, money, it's...

Our latest in Good Advice tackles the event and conference budgeting process. I happen to enjoy this task and find satisfaction in meeting budgets, or doing better than anticipated. Planning a budget may sound daunting. Keeping a few simple rules in mind, the process really isn’t that challenging.

We’ve asked planners around the country for their best budget planning tips, mainly on how to budget wisely and save. The ideas and feedback were plentiful. In future posts we will address how to plan for very specific aspects of your event or meeting. In this first “budget” post, we’ve compiled some overall good ideas to share.

So here you have it, budget saving tips from professionals in the field.

Clockwise:
Cassie Brown, CSEP; Greg Jenkins;
Deborah Kattler Kupetz; Kateri J. Harried

CASSIE BROWN, CSEP
Chief Experience Officer with Tribble Creative Group in Charlotte, NC.

Cassie recommends having a well thought-out budget template that includes items that could be easily forgotten, such as a piano tuner, rider expenses, mileage and more. Remember things like permits and music licenses.  She suggests rounding numbers, rather than using exact numbers. Paying close attention and understanding tax rates and hotel service fees help in the budget process, and avoid any unpleasant surprises later on.

GREG JENKINS
Partner at Bravo Productions in Long Beach, CA shares the following:

Greg finds that a best way to start is by reviewing the group's historical patterns. If you have a firm grasp of historical patterns, it's a great way to start planning a budget, and an excellent means to avoid wasteful spending. For example, how much food and beverage was actually consumed? What was actual attendance versus projected attendance?

Negotiate every supplier contract for a better rate. If every supplier you’re using reduces their cost by 5%, you will save a significant amount of money.

Set the meal count lower than expected. Hotels and most banquet facilities will often charge a penalty fee for reducing the count at the last minute, but not for increasing it. Venues always make sure to have a few extra meals on hand. It’s nice when you need them, and even better not to have to pay for them if you don’t.  Also, request the venue to provide seasonal vegetables instead of more pricey items that are out-of-season such as asparagus, artichokes and exotic fruits such as mangoes, papayas, etc. Request pitchers of water, or water stations with cups instead of bottled water.

Research the venue's 'peaks and valleys' in deciding when to host your meeting or event. You'll likely to save some money when the venue is in less demand. You'll also be in a position to negotiate a better a contract with the venue.

KATERI J. HARRIED
Principal of Klover Events in Washington, D.C. shares the following advice:

When considering a location it is imperative you know whether the facility is union. Building this into your budget and timeline is an absolute must. Not doing so will significantly impact your bottom line and onsite operations.  

Researching the cost of internet access for your meeting rooms is hugely important. You almost always need some sort of access whether it is for the presenter or the participants. Speaking from experience, I had one property in Chicago try to charge me $40,000 for 100 people to use Wi-Fi over a four day period. Don’t get bitten by this one. Different hotels structure this different ways, so make certain to glean all the options and consider all additional fees on top (hotel, local, taxes and gratuity).

DEBORAH KATTLER KUPETZ
Owner of dkkevents in Los Angeles, CA. dkkevents is known for its “green” event planning.
Deborah shares the following bits of advice:

Don't put dates on corporate materials so they can be reused, saving money year after year.

Use technology as much as possible to allow attendees to communicate well in advance of event. All materials should be available electronically. You wouldn't believe the number of materials that are thrown away without ever being read!  I agree here with Deborah and share that EventInterface.com lets you do this easily for your events and meetings.

Avoid swag bags unless the items are absolutely necessary and utilitarian well after the event. Many event planners feel they need to include some sort of souvenir, but the majority of event attendees discard these items within days, even minutes of the conference's end.

Have you own tips to share. Send us a note and we’ll include it in our next Good Advice Budget post. Send your stories by clicking here.

-Al Wynant

Planning Events, a Step-by-Step Guide

We’re thrilled to share this 6-part series with you.  We will be coaching you in the art of event management. We’ll discuss the basic elements of coordinating events including setting goals, selecting a committee, developing a budget and crafting a planning timeline.  We will teach you how to develop event sponsorships and promote your event.  You will learn about the latest technologies and trends. At the end of the series you will have the confidence, knowledge and skills to manage your own event.


In this first installment we discuss the why, selecting a committee and the questions you need to ask yourself at the beginning of the planning process. 


Click here to read part 1.

Great events: Celebrity Fight Night 2012

The March 24 black-tie gala at JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa honored Arizona Cardinal Larry Fitzgerald, Starkey Labs CEO and founder Bill Austin, and Discount Tire founder Bruce Halle and his wife, Diane, with the 2012 Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night Awards.

Honorees Bruce and Diane Halle


America's Got Talent" sensation 11-year-old Jackie Evancho; Billy Crystal

There was no shortage of stargazing opportunities. GRAMMY® Award winning Reba McEntire returned for her seventh year as emcee of the event. To the surprise of the audience, a bald eagle was released into the room during the singing of the national anthem. That was followed by a performance from John Corbett.


Rita Wilson sings with Michael Johns

Previous fight Night honoree Bob Parsons, founder and executive chairman of Go Daddy, kicked off the evening with another surprise: a $1 million donation.


GRAMMY® award-winning musical director David Foster

Following the awards, David Foster directed musical performances by Rascal Flatts, Miley Cyrus, Rita Wilson, former American Idol finalist Michael Johns and 11-year-old America’s Got Talent contestant Jackie Evancho. Comedian Sinbad entertained with jokes and an impromptu performance. Lionel Richie closed the evening with hits including “Brick House", “All Night Long”, “Hello” and “Dancing on the Ceiling” in which Rascal Flatts joined him on stage.


Is that music coming out of the mouths of Fight Night founder
Jimmy Walker and actor Tom Hanks?


John Corbett; Jordin Sparks and Jason Derulo

The evening concluded with a special cake presentation from “Cake Boss” for Ali’s 70^th birthday.


Miley Cyrus on the red carpet

A live auction helped swell the coffers for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at Barrow Neurological Institute and several other charities. Dinner at Reba McEntire’s Beverly Hills, Calif., home, with special guests Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, went for $1.8 million from three bidders who paid $600,000 each. A vacation in Tuscany and dinner with Andrea Bocelli sold for $1.4 million, raising the total for Celebrity Fight Night XVIII to $9.1 million.

Article and photographs courtesy of azredbook.com

When a box of Band-Aids isn't enough

Planning events can be great fun. Rarely does something seriously go wrong, but at times emergencies do occur.  Many of these emergencies can’t be foreseen, but you can plan to manage most and minimize their impact. 

In all my years of planning, I’ve seen many things happen, from a plane crash (fortunately no one died, but we had very serious injuries) to a car thief running through a barricade and being shot at by the police. I’ve seen someone stab himself, and someone fall in a pool and break a leg. Some emergencies are easily dealt with; others can be nightmarish to manage.  

HOW TO PLAN FOR EMERGENCIES?

Early on in the process

One of the best pieces of advice I received early on was “hope for the best, but plan for the worst.”  As part of the planning process I start by looking at the kind of event I am managing, and the type of audience the event will attract. Is the event held in a hotel ballroom, or are we hosting an outdoor festival? Each will have a different set of challenges.

Is the audience a group of young professionals or a busload of retirees?  Here too, different risks may have to be considered. I start by looking at all the possible problems or emergencies that could occur.  An older audience may have health issues and you may want to host a less adventurous or strenuous type of activity.  A younger crowd may take advantage of being away from the office and live it up a little, or a lot.

Assembling a team

Assemble a committee and connect with the experts. If you are hosting an event at a resort or convention center, the venue will most likely have an emergency plan in place. Meet with the head of security, learn what their procedures are. Work with the venue’s staff to adapt procedures to your event. Insure that your whole team understands the emergency plan at the venue. This can be as simple as providing all staff and volunteers with a small card showcasing step by step procedures and phone numbers. We always educate our event staff and volunteers on the procedures in pre-event meetings, and a venue walk-through for all staff and volunteers is a must.

If you are hosting an outdoor event, your emergency contingency plan may become slightly more involved. You may have to assemble a team of experts, including the police and fire department, parks and recreation department, and your management team. Many more things must be considered here. Who is your audience, will you be serving alcohol, is the site easily accessible for emergency personnel, how do we layout the site to insure easy access and escape, how much security do you need to hire?

Learn if you need to hire a Head of Security for your event. I also like to bring in my event insurance professional at this time. Not only will they have a better understanding of what you are trying to accomplish, and will be able to insure you properly. They bring a vast knowledge of risks to the table, some you may not have considered.

Once you have your plans in place, write up instructions and distribute them to everyone! It’s great to have a plan, but worthless if no one knows about it.

Overall good advice

Although not possible for all events, consider collecting emergency contact information from your attendees. This will help you reach out to family in the event of an emergency. This can easily be accomplished via the event registration process.

Insure that you have identified the individuals who are trained to speak on behalf of the event. One wants to diminish the possibility of bad publicity in the event an emergency occurs.

Keep an eye on the weather and news reports for the city or region you are having your event in. If inclement weather is predicted, what are the triggers to cancel the event? Hosting a meeting in the Southwestern part of the United States in January may sound heavenly, but be sure to keep an eye on the weather, airports and flights. The weather may be amazing in Scottsdale, but Chicago O’Hare may be snowed in, greatly impacting arrivals and room night usage.

In case of expected inclement weather either at the event location or near major transportation hubs, consider providing computers or services for attendees to reschedule flights home.

Most problems at events seem related to medical issues. Be aware of food allergies, alcohol consumption, activities that may be strenuous.  You can prevent issues by providing cooling spots, ample drinking water and ability for guests to order suitable meals. Outdoor events may require a first-aid tent to assist attendees overcome by heat or dehydration.

Working with volunteers use common sense. Don’t allow volunteers to set-up in sandals. Don’t allow volunteers to climb ladders or operate equipment for which a license is needed. Provide ample drinking water for your volunteers and don’t allow them to consume alcohol while working your event.

The bottom line

Although you can’t foresee every emergency or problem, develop a comprehensive contingency plan and insure that all stakeholders and staff know the procedures. Knowledge will insure that your team is confident in their ability to manage any problems and emergencies. “Keep Calm and Carry On” is my favorite borrowed motivational motto in case of an emergency.  

For more helpful articles visit our company's blog here.

- Al Wynant

Inspirational surroundings

With the 2012 London Summer Olympics a few months away, we thought it would be fun to take a peek at the possibility of using an Olympic Training Center for a meeting or conference. To our delight, the Colorado Springs’ U.S. Olympic Training Center offers space. The flagship training center for the U.S. Olympic Committee is the cornerstone for Team USA, and we think it would be fantastic to host a meeting at this inspiring location.

It’s definitely a unique spin on the traditional business meeting. The Olympic Training Center offers the stimulating surroundings of an elite athlete training environment and the Olympic Movement. The center has more than 20 meeting rooms on 32 acres of land. The Training Center’s largest meeting room, the West Wing Conference Center, is approximately 4,114 square feet and can host more than 200 people. All on-site meeting rooms offer audio visual equipment to aide with presentations and communications to satellite locations.

In addition to meeting space, the Training Center offers reception spaces in both the Visitor’s Center Hall of Fame Rotunda, and various gym locations, which have the potential to host gatherings for 350 or more guests.

Need a team building activity? Businesses have an opportunity to view or participate in an Olympic or Paralympic sport while on site. The ability to learn, grow and bond through sport at one of the top training facilities in the country is truly a once in a lifetime experience. The Training Center environment inspires excellence and teamwork.

Visit the website by clicking here or call 1 (888) 222-2313 for more information.

To find hotel accommodations by the center, visit the Colorado Springs Convention and Visitor Bureau website by clicking here.

To view photographs of the facility click here.

How to set registration fees

Setting registration prices for conferences can be a contentious process. It’s a procedure not necessarily enjoyed by planners or committees. It can become an emotional roller coaster and it usually lacks a strategy. Developing registration prices has to do as much with meeting budgets as offering opportunities for a large number of people to attend.   

At EventInterface we’ve seen a wide-ranging variety of strategies and pricing models. We don’t think we can say that one is better than the other, but we’ve gaged insight into what makes some groups more successful than others. One thing that stands out is the necessity to offer a great program tied to a sound registration strategy.  

CREATING VALUE

People attend conferences for a variety of reasons. They come to learn and network, exhibit or buy. One of the most important strategies before setting your registration prices is insuring that you have a conference worth registering for.  Aside of a fantastic program, you can build online communities, offer continuing-education credit, and engage cutting-edge technologies pre- and post-conference to involve attendees, speakers and exhibitors.  Creating added value will ensure stronger registration numbers.

BUDGETS FIRST

Before setting registration fees, think about your mission, and then develop your anticipated expenses. Ask yourself if you want to break even or raise money? Once you have a handle on your cost, start building your revenue strategy, registration prices and sponsorship opportunities. Know your audience and the market. If you don’t know where to start, do an internet search for similar projects in comparable markets and discover what prices are like.  If you learn that similar conferences average a fee of $350, it is highly unlikely you will be able to charge a $650 fee. If you need to charge a $650 fee but think your prospect attendees can’t manage that fee, then either create additional value, have a more aggressive sponsorship strategy or reduce the production cost of your conference.

EARLY vs. LATE

It seems that every conference offers an Early-Bird registration fee, and it’s guaranteed that every conference will extend the date of this period. So what is the incentive? We’ve never been a fan of this strategy. It creates a precedent for future years. The longer it goes on, the less successful this strategy becomes. 

If you really must have it, there are a few things you can do to make this early vs. late concept work for your group.

First develop a registration fee with a significant difference between the early and late fee. A $50 difference isn’t going to entice people to register early. Secondly, do not extend the cut-off date. Heavily promote this date date and stick to your guns by not extending it.

Another technique to boost early-bird registrations, and a favorite of ours, is to make available a limited number of registrations not based on a cut-off date. When they sell out they’re gone! This definitely creates a sense of urgency, and helps in the budgeting process as you know exactly the revenue associated with this type of registration option.   

Other incentives could include a more discounted hotel room rate for people who register early vs. late, inclusion of materials meaningful to your attendees or other onsite benefits such as admission to a special session or reception.

It comes down to creating urgency and offering value.

ALL-INCLUSIVE OR A-LA-CARTE PRICING?

Do you offer an all-inclusive registration fee for your conference, an a-la-carte approach, or a combination? Would mixing all-inclusive registration options with an a-la-carte option generate more revenue? Would it generate more attendees interested in just one or a handful of sessions who may otherwise not attend?  

Looking at your expenses to produce a session, you may conclude that it costs $25 per attendee to produce it. You could probably sell a registration option for that session at $35 to $50, or more.  Onsite management becomes a bit more challenging but offering al-la-carte options alongside traditional registration options could generate significant additional revenue.

GENERATING MORE REVENUE

Today’s technologies offer opportunities to generate additional revenue for conferences. EventInterface for example offers opportunities to engage at-home attendees by live broadcasting sessions and workshops, allowing attendees to interact with the speakers and each other. This is an ideal opportunity to engage participants who may otherwise not be able to attend a conference, but would be willing to register to participate virtually.  Use technology to offer presentations and videos post-conference, give it free to registered attendees, and allow non-attendees to register for access post-conference, again generating more revenue.

Exploring all revenue angles or additional revenue opportunities may allow you to offer an overall lower registration cost by spreading anticipated registration revenue over more options.

Click here to see our top tips!